Prince needs to come back to U.S. where his shows were loved

JUST SAYIN'

[Edited 7/29/11 8:38am]

jaynoonan said:

Prince needs to come back to U.S. where his shows were loved

JUST SAYIN'

[Edited 7/29/11 8:38am]

Yeah right...you'd be the first to moan if a show had bad sound..Yanks are known for it!

oakland when i went was not half empty.

germany just sucks.

Other places in Europe are great, everyone loves him

Especially Belgium and Holland!

So no, please stay here.

jaynoonan said:

Prince needs to come back to U.S. where his shows were loved

JUST SAYIN'

[Edited 7/29/11 8:38am]

yeah,

no citisism at all when he played in the US.

shows not to expensive,

not to short on planning the gigs

not to many hits

.....

jaynoonan said:

Prince needs to come back to U.S. where his shows were loved

JUST SAYIN'

[Edited 7/29/11 8:38am]

Actually his shows have been loved, just that the Cologne show had serious production issues.

No one paid anywhere close to $25 to attend, and even if they did they have every right to vent their frustration on what was presented last night.

The only show that I attended, in Perugia was brilliant, and this has been the norm rather than the exception on this tour.

I understand he will back stateside in the Fall, so maybe you will be able to catch another show this year.

[Edited 7/29/11 11:33am]

I do think this is mostly a Germany thing (they're cursed as far as Prince shows go)... because elsewhere in Europe thus far you've not had too bad of issues (just two shows with minor sound issues). But in the US shows he didn't have any sound issues that I can recall... I think maybe he has different people with him now than those who handled sound in the US.. (or did LiveNation do the sound there?)

xLiberiangirl said:

germany just sucks.

What a ridiculous comment. Haven't you read the reports from his first netherland gig on this tour? People were already complaining BEFORE the germany gig because of bad sound.

But in your eyes it's never princes fault, it's always the others.

And no, germany doesn't suck. A lot of american bands love to come and play here because of the great audience and atmosphere.

xLiberiangirl said:

germany just sucks.

Other places in Europe are great, everyone loves him

Especially Belgium and Holland!

So no, please stay here.

Christ you're childish!

What a silly topic.

Prince fans are the same everywhere. He is loved equally by his fans around the world. Fair criticism over sound issues does not diminish the loyalty of his fans in Germany and throughout Europe. If you travelled hundreds of miles to a highly anticipated and pricey show that was ruined by inadequate sound, I'm sure you would be disappointed. These forums are for voicing such criticisms.

Do not try and turn this into some pseudo, patriotic stance. The wonderful thing about a Prince show is that for a few hours folks stop worrying about where they’re from, what race they are, sexual orientation and all of the BS problems we face in the real world. We are all united in music and the love in the room. This is the beauty of his music and his shows. In that spirit, we should drop this silly argument. PLEASE!

One love y’all.

lezama said:

I do think this is mostly a Germany thing (they're cursed as far as Prince shows go)... because elsewhere in Europe thus far you've not had too bad of issues (just two shows with minor sound issues). But in the US shows he didn't have any sound issues that I can recall... I think maybe he has different people with him now than those who handled sound in the US.. (or did LiveNation do the sound there?)

Prince is getting A LOT of bad press today and some newspapers claim that he´s currently using his 8th soundguy since the start of the European tour.

I really enjoyed the show in Berlin last summer and everybody can have a bad day, shit happens, and I know that Prince can easily turn things around again but last night there were more things going wrong than just the bad sound, but we´ve discussed these things on the org on numerous threads already so I won´t go into details again, but last night´s show was a disaster from beginning to end and even the smoother parts had Prince just going through the motions.

I understand that Shelby seems to be a good support for him, and she does indeed have a great voice but she´s just way to dominant. People come to see and hear Prince and his songs, not some other singers taking over,singing his songs or a bunch of coverversions all the time.

The intro to Purple Rain was ridiculous. I still haven´t figured out what Andy Allo was trying to do there holding the guitar and making that same sound over and over again.

Very weird and negative experience. I am still trying to recover from it. It left me in shock and disbelief, and I think he could have easily turned this failure into a victory, but he didn´t.

True, he hasn´t played that many coversongs lately and I bet the Rotterdam and Amsterdam shows were superb and he´s still got it, but something was very wrong last night.

Even the songs that I was looking forward to like Mountains and Love Bizarre were very half assed and weak. I have no idea what went on backstage or before the concert but he looked very pissed.

You´re right about the US concerts. If people here hadn´t paid 100 Euros for their tickets, they proably would have been more tolerant, and I condemn the boohs and the bottle throwing but that show was truly horrible, and not just because of the sound.

It lacked dedication, passion and energy.I´d rather see less people from the audience on stage, less dancing and chanting and shouting, less background singers and more Prince doing his thing, whether on piano or acoustic guitar or maybe even sitting there playing a bunch of songs in a rearranged version.

I don´t think that American audiences would have tolerated what happened last night in Cologne.

[Edited 7/29/11 13:05pm]

Llanishenlad said:

Sooooooo just because ONE concert gets a fair amount of stick for understandable reasons, he should go back to a half empty arena in L.A? Hmmmm

Funny coming from a 22 yr old from Cardiff. You know you didn't even attend ONE show here in L.A., so how the hell would you know?

"half empty arena in L.A"...

I was there for 4 shows. Other friends attended and reviewed several other shows in L.A. None of them were half empty.

Another moron judging from photos that were taken late (and during encores) when people needed to leave early to fight parking lot traffic & get to bed early enough to go to work the next day and fight L.A. traffic.

And by the way, jaynoonan didn't specify L.A., he said the U.S.

Idiot.

Since this is Prince, a Welcome 2 America Tour of Europe makes perfect sense.

cinnamongirl24 said:

Llanishenlad said:

Sooooooo just because ONE concert gets a fair amount of stick for understandable reasons, he should go back to a half empty arena in L.A? Hmmmm

Funny coming from a 22 yr old from Cardiff. You know you didn't even attend ONE show here in L.A., so how the hell would you know?

"half empty arena in L.A"...

I was there for 4 shows. Other friends attended and reviewed several other shows in L.A. None of them were half empty.

Another moron judging from photos that were taken late (and during encores) when people needed to leave early to fight parking lot traffic & get to bed early enough to go to work the next day and fight L.A. traffic.

And by the way, jaynoonan didn't specify L.A., he said the U.S.

Idiot.

I remember a report of one of the LA shows that said he had to lower the ticket price to 10 dollars to sell some tickets. and that's the truth and not a fantasy.

But I'm glad that you had fun.

His shows were loved all over Europe, actually. You can't generalize like that based off of one show where people threw tantrums.

I want him to come back to the U.S. and do shows here too, so I understand your desire to see him return here, but don't start lying and bullshitting about what actually went on in Europe because he hasn't done that yet.

[Edited 7/29/11 17:05pm]

jaynoonan said:

Prince needs to come back to U.S. where his shows were loved

JUST SAYIN'

[Edited 7/29/11 8:38am]

Come on back to Los Angeles! I miss driving down to the Forum three days a week. I was sitting in the risers on the floor every week at $25 a show!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amazing. Plus, I was 5th in line for the 1st HOB show, so you know where I was standing all night" src="http://prince.org/i/s/icon_lol.gif" />

Llanishenlad said:

Sooooooo just because ONE concert gets a fair amount of stick for understandable reasons, he should go back to a half empty arena in L.A? Hmmmm

I went to 12 Forum shows. At no time was the place half empty. Thursday nights were about 2/3 full which was cool becuase you could basically move around all night. Not to mention, he played more rarities on Thursday nights. Fridays were about 85% capacity, and Saturdays were always sold out. If he came back it would go down in the same way. LA has a lot of love for Prince and he knows it. That's why he's played in our city more than any other city over his career, particularly since the early 90's. We have mad love for Prince in LA!

i don't understand how tickets were 25$ here and they are not as cheap in europe? Maybe they'll be cheap at the festival. I think we were given a better treat (well for those who were able to go).

derrick31 said:

Llanishenlad said:

Sooooooo just because ONE concert gets a fair amount of stick for understandable reasons, he should go back to a half empty arena in L.A? Hmmmm

I went to 12 Forum shows. At no time was the place half empty. Thursday nights were about 2/3 full which was cool becuase you could basically move around all night. Not to mention, he played more rarities on Thursday nights. Fridays were about 85% capacity, and Saturdays were always sold out. If he came back it would go down in the same way. LA has a lot of love for Prince and he knows it. That's why he's played in our city more than any other city over his career, particularly since the early 90's. We have mad love for Prince in LA!

Word! The only town that showed more love for him was Oakland! CALIFORNIA has mad love for Prince!!!!

he needs to change his show. its old, boring and stale

[Edited 7/29/11 23:12pm]

dandeeland said:

he needs to change his show. its old, boring and stale

He has, but I'd admit that it's pretty much been one neverending greatest hits/back catalogue tour since 2003.

msdmsr said:

derrick31 said:

I went to 12 Forum shows. At no time was the place half empty. Thursday nights were about 2/3 full which was cool becuase you could basically move around all night. Not to mention, he played more rarities on Thursday nights. Fridays were about 85% capacity, and Saturdays were always sold out. If he came back it would go down in the same way. LA has a lot of love for Prince and he knows it. That's why he's played in our city more than any other city over his career, particularly since the early 90's. We have mad love for Prince in LA!

Word! The only town that showed more love for him was Oakland! CALIFORNIA has mad love for Prince!!!!

This "Prince shows more love for (insert town\city)" is very tedious..please stop..thanking you

im kinda sick of hearing people bitching and complaining about his setlists/too many hits honestly if it bothers you so much dont go to his concerts. we expect a helll of alot from a guy whose been performing for 30+ years. he still delivers and has great showmanship. alot of people on here go to the concerts forums read the review/setlists and then bitch and complain about it, and yet they werent even there. we all want the perfect prince show with the rare songs we all wanna here, but you can complain, argue and post all you want about it; not much is gonna change that way.

TheKid94 said:

im kinda sick of hearing people bitching and complaining about his setlists/too many hits honestly if it bothers you so much dont go to his concerts. we expect a helll of alot from a guy whose been performing for 30+ years. he still delivers and has great showmanship. alot of people on here go to the concerts forums read the review/setlists and then bitch and complain about it, and yet they werent even there. we all want the perfect prince show with the rare songs we all wanna here, but you can complain, argue and post all you want about it; not much is gonna change that way.

I don't disagree with you, but why then does P go on about the 300/400 songs the band have supposedly rehearsed if he is just gonna play the "people pleasers"????

dandeeland said:

he needs to change his show. its old, boring and stale

It's not as easy as you think to do that.

Prince is not and has not been a radio-friendly artist in many years. So, he's not in a position to tour behind a new album, because it's going to be full of songs that no one will hear on the radio.

Therefore, if he's going to play big arenas, he has to rely on his back catalogue.

Now, those that say the setlist is tired are, IMO, people who are not in touch with reality. And the reality is that 98% of the people at a Prince arena song have never heard of anything not previously a pop radio hit. They don't know "Crucial" or "Lady Cab Driver" or "Emancipation" or "The Wall of Berlin". If he played a set containing mostly all songs of that ilk, he'd lose his audience. They'd be telling each other, "I didn't pay $100 to hear songs I don't know. Play your hits!" Then if he didn't, the boos would begin.

This is the reality of the marketplace. Now for smaller venues, or for one-offs like he did in LA, he can get away with a more esoteric set - and he does exactly that.

And don't forget, Prince throws in a rarity or two at every concert. If you think not, go look at a compiled list of every song played in the last year, and you'll see an incredible variety of stuff.

Those that say Prince's setlists are tired just don't understand reality when it comes to arena tours and $100+ ticket prices.

RodeoSchro said:

dandeeland said:

he needs to change his show. its old, boring and stale

It's not as easy as you think to do that.

Prince is not and has not been a radio-friendly artist in many years. So, he's not in a position to tour behind a new album, because it's going to be full of songs that no one will hear on the radio.

Therefore, if he's going to play big arenas, he has to rely on his back catalogue.

Now, those that say the setlist is tired are, IMO, people who are not in touch with reality. And the reality is that 98% of the people at a Prince arena song have never heard of anything not previously a pop radio hit. They don't know "Crucial" or "Lady Cab Driver" or "Emancipation" or "The Wall of Berlin". If he played a set containing mostly all songs of that ilk, he'd lose his audience. They'd be telling each other, "I didn't pay $100 to hear songs I don't know. Play your hits!" Then if he didn't, the boos would begin.

This is the reality of the marketplace. Now for smaller venues, or for one-offs like he did in LA, he can get away with a more esoteric set - and he does exactly that.

And don't forget, Prince throws in a rarity or two at every concert. If you think not, go look at a compiled list of every song played in the last year, and you'll see an incredible variety of stuff.

Those that say Prince's setlists are tired just don't understand reality when it comes to arena tours and $100+ ticket prices.

I really don´t mind hearing the hits but I wish he´d put more passion into his renditions, sing the full lyrics himself and not let other people like Shelby take over, and keep the chants and "clap your hands" and "make some noiiiiiiseee" stuff at a minimum. I´ve seen good rap concerts with less hypeman stuff than Prince´s current tour. Then again, I really liked a lot of the recent shows but what I saw in Cologne on Thursday was a disaster. The bad sound was not the only problem.

I give him credit for still at least trying to please the crowd and going up on stage and doing his thing but the show was really bad. I mean really, really bad. And I´ve seen many Prince shows.

The only good thing about it was to see a really bad Prince show. And you know how rare bad Prince shows are.

I agree with you about Prince having to play the hits for the casual fans but hey, what´s with all those coverversions he´s been doing for the last couple of years? Sure, he can play more obscure stuff in smaller venues but why not play MORE hits during the main shows? Or play the hits and play some newer or more obscure material instead of playing covers and letting Shelby take over.

I don´t mind Shelby as a solo singer and artist, and I know she really gives her best to support Prince on stage, and I guess I´d like to check out her own shows, but as a singer in Prince´s band, she´s just way too dominant, and I know I´m not the only one who thinks so. I really liked Bonnie Boyer because she knew when to hold back. Then again, it´s all Prince´s decision and not the singer´s decision.

The reviews for Thursday are horrible. Major publications are calling him a washed up, spoiled, unprofessional little diva and the sound problems, short show and lack of passion are not their only complaints.

Only ONE critic liked the show because he thought that even for a soundcheck the first half hour was pretty cool and at least Prince went up on stage and TRIED to do his thing, albeit only for 75 minutes, and he gives Prince kudos for keeping his integrity by not playing when the acoustics and the vibe ain´t right.

I give Prince credit for still playing while a bunch of average Joes were let on stage, taking pictures of him right in front of his face. THAT would have annoyed me to no end but then again, I hate that part of the show and it´s his own fault if he lets those people on stage (I´m happy for them but it annoys the hell out of me to see that part of the show..totally ruins the flow).

Prince´s reputation among concert managers and radio stations and casual fans is completely ruined right now. Some people don´t even want to hear his old music anymore and are through with him.

I will still go to his tours and continue following the journey because everybody can have a bad day, shit happens, and even though Prince could have turned this failure into a victory and chose not to, I will not let one single concert ruin things for me but Thursday night was so bad that it was good because it was a very special event to see Prince deliver such an incredibly bad show.

People will remember this forever. It was that bad.

But yeah, I don´t mind Prince playing the hits, as long as he puts his heart into it.

I hope there´s nothing seriously wrong with him. But boy did he rip us off.

A little less cycling around the venue with girls and a little more soundcheck could have prevented this debacle.

msdmsr said:

derrick31 said:

I went to 12 Forum shows. At no time was the place half empty. Thursday nights were about 2/3 full which was cool becuase you could basically move around all night. Not to mention, he played more rarities on Thursday nights. Fridays were about 85% capacity, and Saturdays were always sold out. If he came back it would go down in the same way. LA has a lot of love for Prince and he knows it. That's why he's played in our city more than any other city over his career, particularly since the early 90's. We have mad love for Prince in LA!

Word! The only town that showed more love for him was Oakland! CALIFORNIA has mad love for Prince!!!!

Ditto!! I attended a Saturday nite show and it was sold out!!! And we were sooooo lucky to have Mary j. Blige open for him and she was AMAZING!!!! Better when he came on stage (no makeup) and did a number with Mary. FANTASTIC!!!

California and New York ADORES Prince and we want him back, pronto:-P

In 2011, I would be shocked if there was ONE person at the LA Forum shows that would even DREAM of throwing a beer at the stage. When you looked around the LA Forum it was a pure party, there was a One Love good vibe going around, at least all 8 nights I was lucky enough to attend. EVEN the "bike ride" Friday night (April 22 2011) that the crowd went INSANE wanting him back SOOO BAD screaming for I think it was like an hour (90 minutes?) can't remember but all we got for an encore was a 30 second bike ride with the house lights on. We all went home sad, disappointed but WANTING MORE not talking crap about him on the Org.

Even at the House of Blues in LA in May 2011 at the second show that was SO PACKED if you weren't in the first 6 rows you were lucky if you got a glimpse of his ear. We paid $100. No one bad-mouthed him, we all marveled at the gorgoeous setlist.

I understand sound problems are horrible (when Janelle Monae opened for Prince at the Forum at the beginning of May 2011 I had to walk out to Lobby for a while it was so bad and comparably when Prince came out the sound was amazingly good) and if people have hearing damage that is absolutley horrifying but to throw beer at the stage and boo and say he was not inspirational and lacked emotion is completely unbelievable after what thousands of us have witnessed in NY, LA, Paris, Italy, Helsinki, etc. COMPLETE BS.

LA KNOWS EXACTLY how Prince can be. We've seen it for years. We've seen his bad nights too. But after all these years LA has major LOVE AND R-E-S-P-E-C-T for Prince AS HE IS. He's earned it and deserves it at this point, this day and age, rocking half the world at age 53.